Facilities managers (FMs) should consider adding wellness rooms when renovating or constructing new facilities so that occupants, such as employees or students, can relax and calm down when they’re stressed out. You want to create a safe environment for the people who are using your building. Adding these rooms gives individuals the environment to take a brief time out.

What Is a Wellness Room?

Wellness rooms are spaces that allow occupants to focus on their health and well-being. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) says that nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults aged 18 or older reported a mental illness, so wellness rooms can also help those with anxiety and mental illness.

FMs should design these rooms for privacy, comfort, functionality, accessibility, and location.

Wellness rooms are also referred to as contemplation rooms, renew rooms, or respite rooms.

These spaces can be found in K–12 schools, colleges/universities, retail and restaurants, offices, and healthcare facilities.

What Elements Should Be in a Wellness Room?

The organization Mental Health America recommends having a lockable room(s) with a sign to show the space is in use, but if this is not possible, common space can be set aside.

The space should have the following elements for comfort:

• Lounge sofa or comfy chairs
• Weighted blankets
• Some scented products (but be mindful of people with allergies)
• Low lighting
• Calm music

Other elements to keep in mind, according to the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA), include using colors found in nature, like blue, green, and brown, and ensuring that the space is neat and clean.

Additionally, consider incorporating biophilic elements into your wellness rooms, which involves the use of nature in facility designs.

How Should a Wellness Room Function?

Consider requiring employees or students to reserve the room through a signup on the door or electronically.

Create an environment that allows individuals to use the room for prayer, meditation, stretching, and yoga, as well as for medical and social needs such as making calls to care providers or loved ones.

Who Should Have Them and Why?

1. Schools, Colleges, and Universities

Schools: Wellness rooms allow K–12 students to stay in school and not have to go home after having a panic attack. These attacks are on the increase as mental health challenges for youth have been steadily rising since before COVID-19 started and have only gotten worse.

Wellness rooms that are occupied by children should have comfortable seating for kids, trained personnel, and time limits.

YouthToday reports that many schools find wellness rooms helpful with 90% of students returning to the classroom after spending 10 minutes practicing wellness techniques.

Colleges and Universities: Several higher education institutions are adding wellness rooms, which can include low-sensory rooms and wellness pods.

These wellness rooms have been helpful for college students to relax between classes and prioritize self-care and mental health awareness.

According to Insider Higher Ed, low-sensory rooms can be beneficial for those who are on the autism spectrum, have attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), or have a mental health disability.

2. Offices

As more workers return to the office, either voluntarily or through mandates, more needs to be done to increase the morale of professionals who are used to working from home.

Several experts say offices that provide wellness rooms can help those who are stressed and improve their productivity levels. These rooms are a way employers can show they care for their employees, which can help reduce absenteeism and increase retention rates.

As a result, wellness rooms can help improve the bottom line for organizations.

3. Hospitality Industry

Ask anyone who works in the hospitality industry, such as those employed in restaurants, retail, and hotels, if they sometimes need to get away from demanding customers and they will give a resounding yes.

Fitwel recommends that these facilities offer private quiet rooms, shielded from the public. This would be in addition to a break room, which often acts as a social space for employees.

An example of such a room in the hospitality industry is the Gleneagle Hotel, which designed a space where employees can do relaxation exercises or enjoy a moment of silence.

4. Healthcare

Doctors, nurses, and other medical staff need to step away after handling stressful situations with patients, which can include the aftermath of being a victim of workplace violence or dealing with their emotions after a patient in their care passes away.

The Los Angeles Ambulatory Care Center (LAACC) is just one example of a medical facility that created an employee relaxation and wellness room, with coloring materials and soothing music, where staff can relax in 15-minute intervals.

The U.S. Department of Veterans reports that 15 to 20 minutes in a wellness room helps healthcare staff decrease their stress by 69%, increase cognitive alertness by 38%, and increase their positive moods by 36%. This helps healthcare workers, almost half of which feel burned out, according to the CDC.

Conclusion

Having a wellness room in your facility can help employees and students be more relaxed, healthy, and productive, and it can be part of a total wellness plan. That wellness plan should include a healthy building. To get more information how to make your building healthier, check out “Why Are Healthy Buildings Important?,” on Facilities Management Advisor.

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